Father Jonathan J. Slavinskas, pastor of Our Lady of Providence Parish in Worcester, was guest speaker for Theology on Tap, which drew about 50 people to The Compass Tavern on Harding Street in Worcester Tuesday.

Parishes throughout the diocese have been asked to take up the annual collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious Dec. 9 and 10.The money goes to the National Religious Retirement Office and is distributed to congregations of Religious Sisters and Brothers across the United States to help meet the needs of elderly members.

Parishioners of St. Mary Parish in Milford came together in prayer and solidarity at the Irish Round Tower in the parish cemetery, to pray the rosary for the preservation of the Catholic faith in Ireland and for the defense of life against the threat of abortion.

Deja New, a high-end antique shop, is located at 759 Main St., Leicester, beside St. Joseph Church. There you can find all sorts of toys, tree decorations, and other household items from times past. Deja New has either the actual items from way back when, or modern renditions of them by today’s artists.

Father Michael E. Gaitley, author, director of evangelization for the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, challenged about 700 people to be part of history-in-the-making, as he connected the Blessed Mother with past and the future at a Mercy and Mary Retreat in Charlton.

Local high school students, Olivia Rampello, Emily Malone, and Kara Boissoneau, from St. Bernard Central Catholic High School, have raised $7,500 dollars to help feed the poor. The fundraiser resulted in the distribution of 22,222 bags of food to various food shelters in the area.

This year marked the 10-year anniversary of the St. Paul Catholic Schools Consortium. The Consortium celebrated with their annual fundraiser dinner at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, where Michael J. Nicholson spoke and was given the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

More than 1,200 years of marriage were on display in St. Paul Cathedral Nov. 5. Bishop McManus celebrated the diocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass and 30 couples who had been married between 10 and 66 years took the opportunity to bless their spouses invoking God as they prayed: “Blessed are you, Lord, for in the good and bad times of our life, you have stood lovingly by our side.”

Bishop McManus has rejected the Mount Carmel Preservation Society’s appeal of his decision to deconsecrate Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and relegate it to “profane but not sordid” use. The deconsecration was announced in a decree dated Oct. 27.

It was a first – and a déjà vu – as St. Roch Parish in Oxford and St. Anne Parish in Chardonnières, Haiti, began twinning Oct. 29. It was the first twinning relationship started since Cardinal Chibly Langlois of Les Cayes, Haiti, came here in September to renew his diocese’s covenant with the Worcester Diocese, according to Sister Marie-Judith Dupuy, who coordinates this effort.

From charades to stories to instruction about objective truth, Sunday’s high school youth rally at Assumption College engaged local teenagers. Organizers said 535 youth and adults from 30 parishes attended. “I thought it was a good opportunity for the youth to encounter the Lord in a number of ways” – each other, talks, music and especially the Eucharist, said Timothy Messenger, director of the diocesan youth and young adult ministry. “Encounter” was the theme of the rally, organized by Mr. Messenger’s office, NEWorcester:

A new form of advanced care planning is being implemented in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts called the “Medical Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment,” or MOLST. Concerns have been raised as to whether or not MOLST will sign away your medical decision-making.